Skinny With A Price
by AshKetchumForever
Summary: When an argument happens involving Ash, Ash decides to do something that could cost him his life.
1. Argument!

**I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1:** **Argument!**

It was a rainy night in the Johto region as a light could be seen from a cave through the raindrops.

Three kids were sitting around a fire as they watched the rain pour outside.

"When is it going to stop raining?" asked a raven-haired boy, sighing.

"It might not stop raining until the morning." replied a redhead.

"If that's the case, then I better start on dinner." said a squinty-eyed teen as he got up from his seat to get his pots out to start cooking.

"That's a good idea. I'm starving." said Ash, leaning back and placing a hand on his stomach as it growled.

"You're always hungry. We've barely done anything today." said Misty, shooting him an angry glare.

"I can't help it! I'm a growing boy!" said Ash, raising his voice as he sat up to look at her.

"You certainly are a growing boy. In more ways than one!" said Misty, standing up with her hands on her hips.

"What is that supposed to mean?!" asked Ash, standing up and looking at his friend.

"I'm saying that you're getting fat from how much you're eating." said Misty, pointing a finger in the boy's face.

"No, I'm not!" said Ash, raising his voice more.

"Really? Then what do you call this?" asked Misty, coolly as she poked his belly.

"I-I just haven't hit a growth spurt yet." sputtered Ash, wrapping his arms around his stomach from his friend poking him.

"Will you two knock it off? No one is getting fat from my cooking." said Brock, putting the finishing touches on their dinner.

The two looked at each other before sitting back down and looking away from each other.

Soon, they were all eating Brock's amazing soup in silence as the anger slowly dissipated from the air.

They sat around the fire a little bit longer as they were trying to see what would be the quickest way to the next town from their location.

Once they had come up with a plan, then they decided to head off to bed.

While they were falling asleep, only one of them were still awake as stared up at the ceiling of the cave.

 _(An Hour Later)_

The raven-haired boy was still awake as he was thinking about different things.

" _I know that I might've put on a little weight, but nothing too bad. I wonder how I can get rid of it?"_ thought Ash, looking at the ceiling before looking out into the rain.

He got up quietly to not wake anyone up and looked through his bag for any ideas, but found nothing.

He then went over to Brock's bag to see if he had any books that would suggest a way to lose weight.

He found a book that talked about different ways that would cause a pokemon to lose weight and he found a couple, but he had to fully sit down and think them through before making his decision.

He placed the books back in the backpack before heading back to his sleeping bag and he slowly fell asleep as his brain wore itself out from all of the thinking that it was doing.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed Chapter 1! Happy Labor Day!**

 **AshKetchumForever-Action first-Think later!**


	2. Decision!

**I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2:** **Decision!**

A few days had passed since he had looked through Brock's books about losing weight and he was still getting snide comments from Misty about his weight.

Every time that she would say how fat he was getting, he felt hurt because he knew that he wasn't getting that fat, just going through a growth spurt.

He never let the hurt show as he didn't want her to take pride in knowing that she was hurting him but he truly felt like he just wanted to hide from her.

He wasn't sure if Brock knew how hurt he was, but he almost didn't care as he felt horrible from every hurtful word that came out of his friend's mouth.

He kept to himself a little more as they traveled to the next town and just kept trying to think of the best way possible to keep the words from hurting him too much and what he could do to lose weight.

 _(At The Pokemon Center)_

They had just entered their room and claimed their beds when his stomach growled since it was almost dinnertime.

"Great. Thanks for letting us know that we need to feed you now." said Misty, rolling her eyes with her hands on her hips.

"Let's get some food. I think we're all starving." said Brock, getting up from his bed and trying to dissipate the mood.

They soon went to the cafeteria and got some food before talking about the plan for tomorrow since they were only planning on staying in the town for the night.

Since they stopped for the night in the town, then they would be able to get to Goldenrod City by dinnertime tomorrow night.

They finished their dinner after 20 minutes and then headed back to their room to get ready for bed.

As they were lying down, they talked a little more even though it was mostly Brock and Misty doing the talking with the raven-haired boy agreeing every now and then.

Once the two were asleep, the chocolate-eyed boy got up and went into the bathroom to look at himself in the mirror.

He closed the door and turned the light on so as to not disturb anyone before taking his shirt off.

He looked at himself in the mirror and shook his head as he didn't like what he saw in the mirror.

He thought about the different ways that he could lose weight from Brock's book and one stood out to him.

He read about it before, but he never thought anything about it until that very moment.

He knew what he had to do to lose the weight and he was going to put the plan into action tomorrow.

He thought that if he could have a bunch of weight lost in the next couple of weeks then he didn't have to hear his redhead friend tell him that he's fat most of the time.

He let out a small tear as he thought back to all of the words that she called him before wiping it away and heading back into bed.

He just prayed that everything would go back to normal and that he could return to eating what he wanted again before he fell asleep.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed Chapter 2! I'm super sorry that it's late but I have been busy getting used to living in our own place as well as a few different things had popped up at work to make me one busy girl. I'll try to update as much as I can. See ya later!**

 **AshKetchumForever-Action first-Think later!**


	3. Questioning!

**I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Questioning** **!**

A week had passed and Brock and Misty were starting to notice a change in their raven-haired friend.

He was starting to train more and eat less meals as the week went on.

He kept himself hydrated, but he didn't really have much of an appetite especially when he saw his redheaded friend.

He kept more to himself than he used to and tried to distance himself from his friends, which did hurt him internally but he never showed it.

 _(With Brock And Misty)_

They were watching their friend as he headed for the door to train with Pikachu while they were eating.

"Is it just me or has he been skipping more meals?" asked Misty, looking over at her friend.

"It's not just you. I've noticed that too. If I remember correctly, it started just before we left Goldenrod." replied Brock, placing a hand to his chin as he thought about how long it's been since Ash had eaten.

"I wonder what caused him to train more." said Misty, oblivious to the apparent reason.

The squinty-eyed teen raised an eyebrow when he looked over at her and she looked at him like "Why are you looking at me like that?"

The squinty-eyed teen just sighed and shook his head before going back to his food, leaving the redhead confused by what he meant.

She shrugged her shoulders before finishing up her food and waited for Brock to finish his before they headed back to the room to get their stuff.

 _(With Ash)_

He was out training with his pokemon when he felt a hunger pang hit him and he winced from it before continuing on.

He was starting to feel tired despite only training for about 15 minutes, but he thought that it was because he didn't sleep well last night.

He's also noticed that despite the decision to not eat that he was still fat in his eyes and kept trying to work out with his pokemon while they were training.

While he was watching his pokemon train and getting ready to give them another command, he felt dizzy and found a nearby rock to sit on, causing his pokemon to be worried about him.

"I'm fine guys, just a bit dizzy." said Ash, smiling to his pokemon through the dizziness.

They nodded before going back to their training routine, but Pikachu stayed by his side.

Even though the raven-haired boy had stopped eating based on his decision, he hadn't told Pikachu about it for fear that it would tell his friends, causing them to be worried and try to stage an intervention.

He took a few deep breaths to try to shake the dizziness off before getting up and heading back to training with his pokemon before his friends came out with his stuff as they were ready to move onto the next town.

He gave them a small smile as he took his stuff from them and recalled his pokemon except for Pikachu before they continued on their way to the next town.

 _(A Couple Of Hours Later)_

They had noticed that the sun was started to set so they had decided to set up camp in a nearby clear area in the forest.

The squinty-eyed man had noticed that he was running low on berries and needed to go into the forest and pick some but the raven-haired boy had quickly volunteered to retrieve the needed berries in the forest.

After a few minutes, he returned and gave his friend the berries and sat down on the far side of the campfire, away from his redhead friend.

Once Brock finished cooking up a berry soup, he tried to hand a bowl to the raven-haired boy and he just said that he wasn't that hungry and to give it to Misty.

Brock nodded and gave the bowl to the redhead before pouring himself a bowl and he sat down around the campfire.

"So Ash, what's been going on? I haven't seen you train as hard as you have been before. What's changed?" asked Brock, casually as he tried to find out what's going on with his friend.

"I want to win the Johto League so I've decided to train every day and all day since that is what will give me the best results. That's all." replied Ash, looking confident at them and trying to keep his real reason to himself.

"Really? I'm surprised. I guess you have grown up." said Misty, looking over at her friend while eating her food.

The two guys just looked at her with a raised eyebrow before looking away.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed Chapter 3! Sorry about not updating as much. I have been busy with keeping the condo clean and starting to workout more at home. I'm hoping to finish this tomorrow since it is Thanksgiving. See ya later!**

 **AshKetchumForever-Action first-Think later!**


	4. Discovery!

**I don't own Pokemon.**

 **This chapter is dedicated to my dog, Lulu, who will always be an angel.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Discovery** **!**

A couple of days had passed and the gang had found themselves in Azalea Town for Ash's next gym badge.

They had arrived at the Pokemon Center when they noticed that their raven-haired friend was moving a bit slower than normal and ended up falling onto his bed once they arrived to their room.

The squinty-eyed man and the redhead just thought that he was just super tired from the long walk, not knowing what was truly happening to him.

"Are you heading to bed or coming with us to get some food?" asked Brock.

"I think that I'm just going to head to bed. I just feel like sleeping." replied Ash, lifting his body up from the bed to sit on it.

"Ok. Let us know if you want us to bring any food back." said Brock, hurrying Misty out before she had a chance to say anything.

The raven-haired boy sighed before pushing his weakened body off the bed to head into the bathroom to get cleaned up before getting in bed and burying himself in the covers to stay warm.

 _(With Brock And Misty)_

They had just gotten food and sat down to eat in silence before Misty spoke up.

"Brock, I am a bit worried about Ash. He seriously hasn't eaten anything in a week and a half and for him not to be eating is a big problem." said Misty, concerned for her friend.

"I am too, Misty. We should check on him before we head to bed to make sure that he's not sick." said Brock, trying to think that maybe their friend is coming down with something.

They finished their food in silence before heading back to the room and checked on Ash to find that he didn't have a fever or felt warm at all.

They looked at each other before heading to bed and thinking that something is still wrong with their friend.

 _(In The Morning)_

Brock and Misty were starting to get up from their beds when they noticed that their friend hadn't gotten up yet, which is unusual for him.

The squinty-eyed man shook the boy gently to wake him up and the boy slowly came out of his slumber.

He slowly got up from his bed and tried to get up, but his body was too weak to hold him up and he fell to the ground with a thud.

The two turned around and worked on helping their friend up, but noticed that his arms were thinner than normal as well as how light he was.

They looked at each other before they made sure that he was ok, but he was still having issues with standing by himself.

"Ash, we're going to take you to a hospital. You're so weak that you can barely stand." said Brock, looking at his friend.

"I'll be fine. I prom-" said Ash as he started to protest, but was stricken by the intense pain of a hunger pang.

"That's it. We're going now." said Misty, getting hers and Ash's stuff together.

Before the raven-haired boy could protest, the pain increased and he let out a small yelp from the pain.

They hurried with finishing up in the room before they ran to the hospital with their friend on Brock's back.

 _(At The Hospital)_

They ran into the emergency room and told the nurse that their friend was super weak and very light compared to normal as well as in pain.

The nurse called for a gurney and one came out in a few minutes before they gently placed their weakened friend on it.

They watched in silence as the nurse rushed their raven-haired friend back to be worked on by a doctor.

They sat in the waiting room for a couple of hours before a doctor came out and sat next to them.

"You're Ash's friends, correct?" asked the doctor, looking over at them.

"That's correct. What's wrong with him?" asked Brock, looking at the doctor.

"Well, we've found something very troubling. It seems that he has lost somewhere between 15 and 20 pounds and his ribcage is start to show more. What has been going on with him?" asked the doctor, looking puzzled as he thought about the symptoms.

Brock and Misty looked at each other as they told him about everything from their friend not eating as well as training more with his pokemon to how tired he is now.

"Just as I thought. Do you by chance have anything that pertains to weight loss?" asked the doctor, starting to narrow down what Ash has.

"I have a few cooking books that talk about the best weight loss programs as well as a book that I've been starting to read about different diseases that could affect both Pokemon and humans." replied Brock, wondering what the doctor was thinking about.

"It's never easy to say this, but your friend Ash has a condition called anorexia, which is an emotional disorder characterized by an obsessive desire to lose weight by refusing to eat. Was there any cause for him to lose weight?" asked the doctor, causing them to gasp at the diagnosis before they looked at each other.

"It was from me constantly complaining about him always being hungry. I didn't know that something like that could cause something like this to happen." said Misty, admitting that she was in the wrong.

"I understand. I am going to do my best to make sure that Ash is as close as he can be for being back to normal before you see him." said the doctor, nodding before getting up to finish with getting their friend back to normal.

The squinty-eyed man watched as the doctor left before looking over at the redhead and noticing that she was crying as she knew that she was the cause of everything.

He worked on calming her down and reassuring her that not even himself knew that a few words could cause someone to be hurt so badly that they inflict pain upon themselves.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed Chapter 4! I'm sorry about not getting this finished on Thanksgiving as I said that I would, but I got super busy after I posted Chapter 3 as we were heading to my parents' house for the holiday. Then, I was taking care of my boyfriend as he had a bad stomach virus for a few days before I ended up having to put one of my parents' dogs down this past week as she was in so much pain, which is why the chapter is dedicated to her. I'm hoping that I can have everything ready to finish it up on Christmas. See ya later!**

 **AshKetchumForever-Action first-Think later**


	5. Recovery!

**I don't own Pokemon.**

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 **Chapter 5: Recovery** **!**

A week had passed since Ash's diagnosis and Brock and Misty had stayed by their friend's side while he was recovering from his anorexia dilemma.

They were there while he was going through therapy to help him overcome the urges to not eat and encourage him that eating will help him grow tall and to survive.

They felt bad when they would see him struggle with accepting that food was a good thing and trying to eat without spitting it out or looking like he might throw it up after successfully eating it.

The biggest thing that was heavy on their minds was this: Would he ever be the same?

 _(With Ash)_

He had just come back from his therapy session with the doctor and he was wondering if he was doing the right thing when he saw the familiar shadow of a yellow mouse in the doorway.

"Pikachu?" asked Ash, watching the shadow get closer to his bed. It jumped onto the bed and gave him a huge hug as it was happy to finally see its trainer again after a week.

The raven-haired boy returned the hug and he had a small smile on his face from seeing his first pokemon.

When they broke from their hug, the boy could tell how sad the yellow mouse had been as it saw how hard its trainer had been struggling with getting better.

It was at that moment that the raven-haired boy knew what he had to do and that was to get better.

"Thanks, Pikachu. You really do help me out as much as I help you out." said Ash with a smile as he was looking at the yellow mouse.

Pikachu let out a happy squeal before looking at the door as it heard someone enter the room.

The nurse had brought the boy his lunch and gently set it down on the tray over his bed before giving the yellow mouse a gentle pat and leaving the room.

Pikachu looked over at its trainer and was wondering if he was going to eat his food or just eat a few bites like he has been.

To the mouse's surprise, the boy ate everything on the plate without showing his disgust for eating.

Pikachu jumped up and down on the bed to show how happy it was for its trainer slowly getting better.

The raven-haired boy just smiled as he looked down at the happy mouse before giving it a gentle pat on the head.

" _Maybe I can do this. Maybe there is more to live for again with eating instead of starving myself to death."_ thought Ash, smiling at Pikachu.

 _(A Week Later)_

After working hard on gaining back the weight that he had lost and graduating from therapy, Ash had been discharged from the hospital without any medication as the doctor felt that he was going to make a full recovery without it.

"We're glad that you're back to normal, Ash. You really had us scared there for a while." said Brock, smiling at the boy as they were eating lunch at a nearby restaurant.

"Thanks. I'm glad to be back." said Ash, smiling as well.

"Ash, I'm really sorry that I was so mean to you and causing you to become anorexic. I never meant for any of this to happen at all." said Misty, apologetically as she looked at the raven-haired boy across from her.

"It's fine, Misty. I took it too hard instead of brushing it off." said Ash, still smiling.

They were all smiles as they finished their lunch and headed to the gym for Ash to challenge the gym leader **.**

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed Chapter 5! I'm super sorry that I wasn't able to get this done on New Year's Day, which is my 9 year anniversary on here, but I had a lot of things happen in my life that prevented me from doing so. I got engaged on December 21st, a month from our 5 year anniversary, I had an issue with my car needing its transmission rebuilt and I had to stay the weekend at my parents without my laptop or even a phone charger before I was able to take one of their cars home, and then I went home to help my Mom with my Dad after he had a knee replacement on January 9th. Then, everything crashed once again as we received news that my uncle who had served in WWII and was a POW had passed away the day that I was supposed to head home after taking care of my Dad. My fiance and I went down this past Friday to go to his visitation before the funeral on Saturday and also dealing with the gigantic snowstorm that went through Ohio - not fun at all, but at least we were home instead of down with my parents and limited amount of clothing. Again, I'm super sorry about the delay as I really wanted to finish this on my 9 year anniversary, but I finally finished it on my fiance and I's 5 year anniversary and MLK day. See ya later!**

 **AshKetchumForever-Action first-Think later!**


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